


No One Loves Me Like You Do

by lyndin_junes



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oops this was commissioned to be 1500 words, Relationship Problems, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29976831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyndin_junes/pseuds/lyndin_junes
Summary: Yosuke and Souji find themselves in the midst of a conflict when Souji’s long hours keep him at the office most nights.
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	No One Loves Me Like You Do

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fidusachates](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fidusachates/gifts).



> Hii, this was a 1500 word commission from my good friend fidusachates, thanks homie :D based on the song Like You Do by Joji!

Another grueling day as a cog in the corporate Junes machine was finally over. After trudging home through the relentless snowstorm, he fumbled with his keys as and shuddered against the bitter bite of the evening midwinter air, desperate to break into the warmth of his and Souji’s shared apartment. 

Well, the space itself was well-heated, but Yosuke couldn’t say the place was “warm” anymore— not ever since Souji had really dug into his career as a budding attorney. He spent countless hours at his office, even going so far as to spend a few nights a week there at times. It was a gradual change at first, but now Yosuke was lucky if he got to see his partner more than three days a week. 

He let out a contemplative sigh; this was a massive strain on their relationship, and Yosuke had no idea how to remedy it. He knew that he needed to say something to Souji, but he had no idea how to begin that conversation. How was he supposed to look his estranged partner in the eye and tell him everything he was feeling, point blank?

Like he did in all things, Yosuke found himself turning to music for an answer. He listened to every song in his playlist, praying he could find some sort of answer in their melodious wisdom. He was genuinely hoping to find some solace in the lyrics, but all the songs that they liked to listen to together hit his ear like bittersweet lullabies. 

He was quick to jump up and unlock the door for Souji as soon as he heard the telltale jingle of keys. “Hey, partner,” he murmured, nervously scratching at the nape of his neck. 

“Hi Yosuke,” Souji muttered half-heartedly. He didn’t bother to meet Yosuke’s eyes. 

“Um… h-how was work?” Yosuke sputtered. He knew skirting around the subject wasn’t doing him any good, but he knew he or Souji would just freeze up if he pushed the conversation too quickly. 

“Work was work. Another long day,” he yawned. The circles under his eyes had grown more and more pronounced with each passing day at the office this week. His skin was sickly pale, and his face was looking much more gaunt than Yosuke had ever remembered. “I’m heading straight to bed if that’s okay.” 

Yosuke sighed. If he was going to get a chance tonight, this was it. “I’m really sorry to ask you to stay up since you look totally exhausted, but… I’m worried for us, partner.”

Souji shot him a look of exhaustion, confusion, and borderline annoyance all in one. “What does that mean?” 

“W-well, um… you’ve been working a lot lately and… Ugh, I feel awful stirring the pot like this. I don’t wanna complicate the rhythm we’ve got going, but…” He desperately wanted to continue his train of thought, but he found that he’d fallen speechless halfway through.

“Yosuke, please just say what you need to say. I’m exhausted and I need to get to sleep before another 15-hour day tomorrow.”

Yosuke couldn’t suppress the flippant hiss that escaped his lips. “Yeah, that’s exactly part of the problem, Souji. You’re  _ always _ at work— you’re  _ never home  _ anymore! I  _ miss you,  _ okay?!” he yelped, much more sharply than he’d meant to. 

“I do it for  _ us _ Yosuke. You should know that,” Souji scoffed. “I work as much as I do so that I can advance at the firm and allow us to build a promising future together.”

“Yeah, that’s great and all, but…” Yosuke had been desperately trying to keep his cool, but he felt his temper flare hotter and higher with each word that rolled off his tongue. “What’s the damn point of having a bunch of cool stuff and a big fancy career when _you_ can’t even make time for us to enjoy our _real_ _lives_ together?!”

“You know what, Yosuke?” Souji snapped. “My career  _ is  _ part of my real life. If you can’t see that, we have a big problem on our hands.” 

“Yeah, we  _ do  _ have a problem,” he said. He was struggling to hold back his frustrated tears. “Lately, I just can’t help but think that our roads might be taking us down different phases. I’m… scared that we won’t be able to make it work like this forever.” 

“Maybe if  _ you  _ had a job you actually cared about, you wouldn’t be so insecure about mine,” Souji suggested coldly. “Or maybe you wouldn’t feel so bad that I’m not home as much as you want me to be because you’d have your own goals to focus on.” 

“Oh, is  _ that  _ right, Souji?” Yosuke snarled. “If that’s the case, maybe we should just split down our own paths and save each other the trouble of trying to make this work.” 

“Yosuke, you  _ can’t  _ be serious,” Yu chided.

“Oh, I  _ am _ ! I’ll show you just how  _ serious  _ I am!” Yosuke shouted, ripping his coat off the rack and sliding his feet into his slippers. “I’m  _ gone _ !”

Souji froze in pure bafflement as he threw the front door open and strided into the snowy hellscape, leaving nothing but a burst of cold in his wake as the door slammed behind him. It was a cold that effortlessly crept into Souji’s bones, but even so it failed to rival the chill he felt in soul the moment Yosuke had stepped through the door. Any chill that he knew now was nothing next to the chill he felt in his heart without Yosuke. 

He knew he had to follow after him. 

He thrust himself through the door and into the unrelenting blizzard beyond. The glare of a cyan street light refracted in the blinding barrage of snowflakes, leaving Souji feeling lost in the blue; how on earth was he going to find Yosuke in these conditions? His heart sank into the soles of his boots— this wasn’t just a life-or-death situation for their relationship, but for  _ Yosuke _ , too. 

“ _ Yosuke!”  _ he cried into the night. 

Yosuke didn’t return his call; only the wind howled in reply as it nipped at Souji’s nose. He kept trudging forward until he heard a clamor of metal and a pained groan a few paces ahead.

“Yosuke?” he called as he gingerly moved in the direction of the noise. 

Sure enough, he’d found him, face-down and flailing in a frosty silver trash can. It was so reminiscent of the moment they’d met that Souji felt all the air in his lungs evacuate in nostalgic surprise. He freed Yosuke from the trash like it was second nature, then offered him a shoulder to lean on.

“God, I can’t even run  _ away  _ right,” He muttered bitterly. “Looking foolish as usual, Hanamura...”

“Yosuke, I’m just…” Souji began, his voice breaking as he spoke. He couldn’t resist the urge to wrap his partner in a warm, heart-felt hug. “I’m just so glad you’re okay.” 

Yosuke let loose an amused puff of air through his nose. “Thanks for saving my ass from the trash again, partner. I really hoped the first time would be the last,” he laughed. “But… I shouldn’t have run away in the first place. We need to talk this through.” 

“I agree,” Souji said. “Let’s get back inside. I’ll make us some tea.” 

Souji helped Yosuke hobble back to their apartment; he wasted no time making them some cinnamon tea. They sat beside one another on the couch, both taking pensive sips until their cups were dry.

“Um, I guess…” Yosuke began tentatively. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t wanna stand in the way of your life plans, partner. If you need to work this hard to get where you want to go in life, I’ll just try to make the moments we do get to spend together extra special.” He tried to shoot Souji a reassuring grin, but he couldn’t hide the sadness behind his words. 

“No, Yosuke,  _ I  _ was wrong,” Souji admitted with a sigh. “I was so focused on advancing my career that I started taking you for granted. I’m so sorry for that.” He grabbed Yosuke’s ice cold hand and gave it a squeeze. 

Yosuke gazed at Souji, whose silver eyes were brimming with sincerity. “It’s okay, partner. I was silly for acting like I’d throw what we have away so quickly, but… I just didn’t know what else to do. I don’t think there’s another ‘us’ on this whole planet, and I know neither of us would just throw it away.”

“I agree,” Souji said with a small smile. Honestly, my life has felt so much… heavier since I really started digging into my work at the firm. But when I do get to see you, all the gloomy days seem to shine a little more brightly. And I promise I’ll never lose sight of that again.”

“Y-you mean it?” Yosuke sputtered with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. He pressed himself against Souji, wanting to feel as close to him and all his warmth as he possibly could. 

“I promise,” he said with another, firmer squeeze of Yosuke’s hand. “Paperwork, legal proceedings, advancing my career? They don’t matter now. You’re the one I can’t lose, because no one loves me like you do, Yosuke.” 

“I’m… I’m happy to hear that partner, but you don’t have to throw  _ everything _ away for me, y’know?” he explained. “Just… try to be home more so that we can be together.”

Souji gave a firm nod. “How about I take the day off tomorrow? I have more than enough PTO hours banked. Let me make up some of the time we’ve lost.”

Yosuke’s eyes twinkled at the suggestion. “Really?! Sounds good, partner— I’ll message my boss, too! But I’ll have to tell him I’m sick, so… we’ll just have to hang out here, if that’s okay.”

“That sounds like the best thing in the world.”

Having made their reparations, the two spent the rest of the night and the next day enjoying nothing but each other’s company, complete with plenty of snuggles and kisses. Though life went back to its busy grind in the following days, they made sure to never lose sight of how important their partnership was. Instead of living for work, Souji chose to live for the moments they could finally spend together— for the moments where Yosuke was all that he could see. 


End file.
